CORNING

Authorities are still investigating the cause of a garage fire which occurred on Friday at 11 Mitchell St., in Norwich. The owner of the two door garage, adjacent to Denny’s Liquors, noticed smoke escaping from the building and the Norwich Fire Department was called. Once first responders were on the scene the fire was knocked out in minutes, preventing any serious damage to the building and its contents. After the fire was extinguished the Norwich Fire Department remained on site to make sure the fire would not re-ignite as well as to investigate the cause. At this point authorities have not yet been able to determine to cause of the fire. The building did not have running electricity and had reportedly not been entered into for some time.

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Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday night, An off road motorcycle accident occured approximately a mile off of Mt. Pleasant Rd., in Bainbridge. The driver of the vehicle sustained a head injury and was transported to the Sidney airport and then was airlifted via a LifeNet helicopter to the UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City.

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The City of Norwich will be closing some streets for paving over the next few days. Today the West end of Conkey Ave from Elm to Locust will be closed as well as Merrill St. Tomorrow On Wednesday, Rexford St. will be closed from the railroad tracks to Silver St. and Pleasant St. will be closed from North Broad to King Street. On Thursday Cole Drive will be closed. No traffic will be permitted on any of these streets for the better part of the day. Also, on Tuesday next week, The Chenango County Department of Public Works will close a section of County Road 33, between County Road 36 (Norwich-Guilford Road) and County Road 34 (Springvale Road), in the Town of Norwich. This closure will be in place until the required culvert replacement work is completed. Local traffic will be allowed access to their homes; however they will be required to travel away from the project for the closure period.

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Police arrested a Johnson City man they said broke into an apartment and strangled the man living there. Johnson City Police said it started when a dog bit 26 year old Jamell Jones in the leg at 7:30 pm on Thursday outside of 180 Harrison St. Jones tried to retaliate and attacked the dog. The dog’s owner tried to stop Jones but Jones struck him in the face several times. Another man tried to stop Jones and the victim ran back into his apartment. Jones chased him inside and strangled him until he became unconscious. Officials charged Jones with burglary and strangulation, both felonies. He was sent to Broome County Jail without bail.

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A 25-year-old Corning woman is accused of shoplifting at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City while five children were in her care. Kristina A. Slyter allegedly stole $1,000 in property from the Sears store. Slyter was charged with a felony count of fourth-degree grand larceny and five misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Slyter was arraigned in Village of Johnson City Court and was remanded to the Broome County jail.

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New York State has begun issuing new driver’s licenses that have more than 30 new security features, making them nearly impossible to fake. For drivers under 21, the new licenses are vertical rather than horizontal. That feature gives bouncers, bartenders and clerks an easier time identifying those younger than 18 or 21 for sales of tobacco and alcohol. The new licenses will be introduced over the next eight years as drivers’ current licenses expire or when new drivers get them. The licenses are laser engraved with a “grayscale” appearance, with a black and white photo. Four offices in Albany, Poughkeepsie, North Syracuse and Schenectady have already begun issuing the new format license with all DMV offices expected to be online by the end of September.

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The City of Binghamton was one of 90 cities chosen across the nation to become a preferred sustainable community. Being a sustainable community means the city gets an extra three points added to its score when applying for funding from the Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection.

Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting is confirming the identity of the body found on Tuesday February 26, 2013 on Center Road in the Town of Pharsalia. The body had been identified by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office as Jennifer Ramsaran who was reported missing by her husband on December 11, 2012. The Sheriff’s Office along with the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office is still investigating the cause of Jennifer’s death. The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to contact them at 337-1924 or 607 337 1864. All calls will be kept confidential.

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The State DEC missed another deadline to finalize regulations governing natural gas development, & the Joint Landowners Coalition announced that they are moving ahead and seeking plaintiffs for its lawsuit against New York State. Coalition Attorney Scott Kurkoski comments:

(Scott Kurkoski 2-28-13)

Kurkoski said that the coalition is seeking one plaintiff from 4 different categories of landowners in the Marcellus Shale region, more details are available at 584-5620.

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The Oneonta Town Board will have a workshop meeting tonight on a proposed extension of a moratorium on natural gas drilling. The meeting will be held in the Oneonta Town Hall in West Oneonta at 7:00 PM, A public hearing is set for 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 13th. Last year, the Oneonta Town Board passed a 12-month moratorium; the new proposal would extend that for another 12 months.

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The Otsego County Planning Department, the Otsego County Conservation Association, Opportunities for Otsego, and Sustainable Otsego, have teamed up for a series of workshops on how homeowners, small businesses, and non-profits can get an energy assessment. The workshop series will kick off on Saturday March 9, in the Butternut Valley Room at SUCO’s Hunt Union. From 10 am till 1 pm, followed by workshops on March 20th in cherry valley, April 10th in Morris & April 27th in Edmeston. More information is available at 723-0110.

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After a week & a half vacation, state lawmakers got back to work today in Albany. Lawmakers will spend much of their time this month working on the 142.6 billion dollar state budget, which is due by April first. Other proposals from Governor Cuomo include a minimum wage hike to $8.75 an hour, mapping out where proposed casinos should be located,

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US Senator Charles Schumer reintroduced the Metal Theft Prevention Act, to try to prevent the theft and sale of stolen scrap metal. The bill would help make it harder for those who steal metal items to turn around & sell it. Reports of Metal theft has jumped more than 80 percent in recent years, with copper pipe regularly taken from vacant homes a& other structures, Between 2009 and 2011, the National Insurance Crime Bureau found over 25,000 insurance claims related to metal theft, Schumer’s bill has bipartisan support.

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Police have nabbed a man who may have been involved in series of store robberies over the last few months across the southern tier. 62-year-old John Malowsky of Attica was arrested by the Tioga County Sheriff’s Department in connection with an armed robbery of the Owego CVS store last night, and a Maurice’s in Corning the night before. Deputies apprehended Malowsky leaving the CVS Store; he is also accused of threatening Deputies with a knife. Malowsky will be arraigned in Tioga County and is expected to be arraigned for armed robberies in Chemung and Steuben Counties shortly.